Greg King - A Season of Splendor: The Court of Mrs. Astor in Gilded Age New York

A SEASON OF SPLENDOR

Also by Greg King

Twilight of Splendor:
The Court of Queen Victoria during Her Diamond Jubilee Year

The Court of the Last Tsar:
Pomp, Power, and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II

With Penny Wilson

The Fate of the Romanovs

A SEASON OF SPLENDOR

The Court of Mrs. Astor in Gilded Age New York

Greg King

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright 2009 by Greg King. All rights reserved

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada

Photo Credits Page 20: The Museum of the City of New York, The Byron Collection; page 106: The Newport Historical Society; pages 42, 44, 50, 57, 58, 80, 109, 123, 214, 307, 310, 324, 330, 387: Courtesy of The Preservation Society of Newport County; page 408: Courtesy of Tracey DeMartini, great-niece of Colonel Mann

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

King, Greg, date.
A season of splendor : the court of Mrs. Astor in Gilded Age New York / Greg King.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-18569-8 (cloth)
1. New York (N.Y.)Social life and customs19th century. 2. New York (N.Y.)Social life and customs20th century. 3. Astor, Caroline Schermerhorn, 1830-1908. 4. Astor, Caroline Schermerhorn, 1830-1908Friends and associates. 5. Elite (Social sciences)New York (State)New YorkHistory. 6. SocialitesNew York (State)New YorkHistory. 7. Rich peopleNew York (State)New YorkBiography. 8. New York (N.Y.)Biography. 9. New York (N.Y.)Description and travel. I. Title.
F124.K56 2008
974.7041041dc22

2008009570

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

With the kind permission of the 11th Duke of Marlborough, this book is dedicated to the memory of his sister Lady Sarah Spencer-Churchill, Alva Vanderbilts great-grandaughter, an infinite source of knowledge, and a greatly missed friend.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book grew from a long-standing interest in the Gilded Age. I vividly recall repeatedly leafing through numerous books at age six or seven that covered Gilded Age American palaces and their owners. The volumes by Merrill Folsom and Henry and Ottalie Williams, listed in the bibliography, had a profound effect on me, and as soon as I developed a vocabulary equal to the task, I eagerly began to read memoirs and family histories of the Vanderbilts and the Astors, eventually collecting books and materials to assuage my curiosity. Some ten years ago, the idea of actually writing a book about the Gilded Age took hold, and personal interest transformed into a more dedicated pursuit.

Given the wealth of personalities and possibilities involved, my initial ideas encompassed a wide variety of approaches, and I must thank Dorie Simmonds, my agent, and Stephen S. Power, my editor at John Wiley & Sons, for helping to refine my vision and channel it into a more coherent narrative form. In the end, it was Dorie who strongly supported a stylistic change midstream to echo my previous book The Court of the Last Tsar, while Stephens insistence that I concentrate on Caroline Astor and New York society gave the narrative a central focus around which the story could be told. Their continued encouragement and enthusiasm for this project have helped keep it on track, and the end result owes a great deal to many months of frank discussions among us. Ellen Wright, Editorial Assistant at Wiley, has been a model of patience throughout, and I thank John Simko, Senior Production Editor at Wiley, for his careful attention to the manuscript.

In researching and writing this book, I have drawn on the advice and support of many people who over the years have provided both information and suggestions that have played a part in shaping these pages. I would like to acknowledge David Adams; Jason Adams; Betty Aronson; Lee Atweiler; Lucia Bequaert; David Bloom; George Bobrick; Thomas and Mary Botford; Erna Bringe; Lorraine Butterfield; Jill Camps; Vincent Cartwright; Harry Cernan; Luke Connor; Ben Curry; Cyndi Darling; Louise David; Lisa Davidson; Mona and Gerald Dennings; Elizabeth Densmuire; Sam Dettlemore; Anne Dillard; Greg Dunmassy; Keith Eaton; Brian Ebford; Fred Ernest; Cecilia Eton; Edward Fine; Beth Fry; Michelle Fumkin; Andrei Gaddis; Julia Gelardi; Kathryn George; Nick Gorman; Dan Gretsky; Roger Gringle; Larry Gross; Linda Grundvald; Sebastian Hanson; Mike Harris; John Harrison; Marina Hart; Candice Hearst; William Hemple; Bill Hennings; Steve Hervet; DeeAnn Hoff; Craig Hohman; Brien Horan; Elizabeth Hoss; Allison Hume; Francine Imford; Nagori Iskaguchi; Max Jacobs; Irving Jadschmidt; Hans Jergin; Adrian Johns, Terry and Michael Jorgenson; Greg Julia; the late Ingrid Kane; Kerry Karnet; Natasha Kennet; Will Kevin; Harvey Kew; Scott Laforce; Brandon Lamont; Ian Lanoge; Gabrielle Lasher; Jack Lazov; Anne Little; Julia Loman; Peter Longford; Mike Lumis; Justin Maris; Thomas Matt; Edgar McNeil; Grant Menzies; Irina Mishop; Ian Morris; Roger Morris; Jay Moss; Christopher Mowlens; Sue Nardin; Claudia Nervin; Felix Norris; Rick Owens; Bill Partridge; Bob Perricault; Hank Pettigrew; Marsha and Ashton Porman; Ron Questen; George Ransome; Linda and Phil Rascul; Viki Sams; William Samuels; John Sandford; Rachel Sattle; Matt Selford; Tim Simmons; Nicola Simms; John Simon; Corey Sommers; Cynthia Sulden; Ryan Tager; Josh Tanner; Eleanor Tibbie; Diana Totesmore; Michael Townsend; Fanny Ulman; Eugene Unwin; Mona and Philip Usher; Anna Victor; Michel Vusgek; Henry Walters; Burt Washington; Curtis Welborne; Zora and Peter Welcome; Dale Wilmington; Allen Wilson; Nadine Womack; Cathy Wycliff; Shiguro Yukihama; Gleb Yuvenshky; and Mark Zendor.